The Hero's Path 2: The Refugee
by Marriella Bullet
Summary: Starts where Episode One leaves off. Luke needs to stop at Alderaan to repair his ship. But then Vader shows up on the same planet at the same time and everything changes.
1. Chapter 1

**The Hero's Path: Episode II**

**The Refugee**

**Summery: Starts right where episode one left off. On the way home, Luke has to stop at Alderaan to repair his ship. But when Vader shows up on the same planet at the same time, everything goes wrong.**

**Author Note: Episode two in a five, possibly six, episode series. Please read the Episode One first or you won't understand this!**

**Since you guys didn't give me any input on this, I decided to go ahead and post it. **

**Chapter One**

It was a fine day for space traveling. There had been no mishaps with The Silver Star, the ship Warlen had given him, no unexpected supernovas, and no run-ins with space pirates… and yet Luke Skywalker was upset. It was for the simple reason that the finest adventure he'd ever had was over. He wouldn't lie; it had been sort of freaky at some parts, but there other times when he had enjoyed himself. But it was over now… and he was going back to Tatooine.

It was strange that he was going back. He hadn't planned to go back, but Warlen had knocked some sense into him. (Maybe it had happened when he was being thrown from dimension back to dimension.)

Luke sighed and looked out the window. He was sitting in the cockpit, watching hyperspace go by. It was a shame it was over… but maybe it was for the better. After all, he needed a break.

A sudden beeping sound caught his attention. Luke began checking the readout screens, searching for the problem. After a few minutes he found it. There were a few loose panels on top of the ship. He would need to land somewhere and repair it. Luke checked the map for the nearest planet.

Alderaan.

"Hmm, okay," Luke said. "Alderaan's good."

He had heard of Alderaan a lot. It was one of the few planets that was still peacefully, and untouched by the war thus far. All lot of the people from Alderaan were senators because they believed in talking through a situation rather than fighting. Not exactly Luke's style. He preferred an outright fight instead of stupid small talk, but this was because talking never seemed to get him anywhere. He usually got through a situation better when he was fighting.

Luke set his course for Alderaan. When he did, he began to feel better. At least he wasn't going _straight_ home. Luke wasn't at all looking forward to having to explain everything to his aunt and uncle. Oh yeah, they were going to be mad… he'd probably be grounded for the rest of his life.

Luke cringed. Why, oh why was he going home, just for the sake of getting grounded for the rest of his natural life!?

…

A few hours later, Luke had arrived at Alderaan. It was such a beautiful planet; Luke wished he had run away here instead of Coruscaunt. He wouldn't have ever met Lenson… but then he wouldn't have ever met Warlen either. At least something good came of being forced to get that stupid cursed ruby thing.

Luke landed and walked down the ramp of The Silver Star, and looked around for an attendant. He saw one soon enough and walked up to meet him.

"Hey, person," Luke said. He didn't mean to be rude; it was just his natural behavior.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" the man said smiling.

_These people sure are friendly_. Aloud, Luke said, "There's a few loose panels on top of my ship and I need them fixed. Like now."

The man nodded, thinking inwardly that this kid could use a lesson in manners. But he agreed to do the job and have it done in less than an hour.

Luke shrugged. "Good enough." Up till now, he was planning to stay and watch. Maybe he could learn a few pointers about fixing ships. But suddenly, he saw lots of stormtroopers being led by Darth Vader!

They were about thirty or forty yards away, and they didn't see Luke, but Luke, being up on the landing pad could see them.

He turned back to the attendant and spoke in a rush. "Okay, get it done as fast as you can, I'll-be-back-later,-bye!"

The attendant watched Luke run off the platform and rush out into the streets, loosing himself in the crowd. He shook his head. That kid was strange.

…

Luke ran through the streets of Alderaan as fast as he could. He didn't even know why he was running. It wasn't really _Vader_ he was worried about. The Second in Command of the Empire could care less about a kid like him, but all those stormtroopers made him nervous. After all, he had had bad experiences with stormtroopers.

For a second, the memory of the stormtrooper back on Coruscaunt tackling him and dragging him to his feet played in his head. Yes, he wanted to get as far away from the stormtroopers as possible. The farther away the better.

…

Darth Vader walked through Alderaan, looking this way and that. The people stared at him in fear and stumbled to get out of his way. Vader paid them no mind. There was only one person he was concerning himself with.

Luke Skywalker.

The young thief, the boy who he had almost had on Coruscaunt before his friends had broken him out of jail. He knew the boy was here. He felt his presence strongly. Something had happened since Coruscaunt which had caused Luke to grow strongly in the Force.

He was almost completely positive that this skilled child was his son. Almost sure. _Almost_. He had to see him. Touch him. Look into his eyes. And then he would know. Vader wasn't going to let the boy get away. Luke didn't know that Vader was looking for him, and this would work to his advantage…

…

Luke wasn't running anymore. There was no reason to. The stormtroopers and Vader were far behind him. Or so he thought…

He suddenly heard a deep, mechanical voice, not far off say, "There's the boy! Get him and bring him to me!"

"What the hell!?" Luke exclaimed. The shock that Vader was after _him_ was too much. For a second, Luke panicked. Then, when he saw all those stormtroopers coming after him, his feet started going fast.

He began running faster than he ever thought he could run. Prison was one thing, _Vader_ was something else completely. He couldn't let himself be brought in front of _that_ freaky guy! He had to get out of here!

…

Fifteen year old Leia Organa was just getting into her speeder when she saw the boy. She was just coming from her friend's house. They had been planning her birthday party. It was still a few months off, but it was going to be a big party, and everything had to be planned far in advance.

She had come outside when her speeder came to pick her up, and then she nearly got run over by a blonde boy, about her age, running as fast as he could, breathing had.

"Sorry!" Luke exclaimed when he bumped into the girl. "I didn't see you."

Leia was a bit outraged. "How could you not have seen me!? I was right in front of you!"

"Stop nagging me, woman!" Luke yelled. "I'm trying to get away from… uh, someone."

"Who?" Leia asked. She was very curious about this boy.

"Uh…" Luke glanced behind himself. No stormtroopers in sight, but they could be just around the corner. "I'll explain it all to you if you take me a few blocks in your speeder."

Leia thought for a second. This boy could be dangerous, but then, he didn't seem dangerous. A little rude, yes, but she decided it was because he was in a hurry to get away from whoever was chasing him.

"Okay, get in."

Luke got into the speeder as fast as he could, and Leia followed him inside. When the speeder had taken off, Luke finally began to breath normally again. "Thanks."

Luke didn't normally say thanks to anyone. But he just felt like he needed to say it. After all, this girl didn't have to help him, but she had just the same, he decided that she deserved to be thanked.

"You're welcome," Leia said. "Now who were you running from?"  
"Stormtroopers," Luke said shortly. He was still slightly out of breath after all that running.

Leia's eyebrows went up slightly when she heard this. "Stormtroopers? Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing, stormtroopers hate me."

Luke knew that saying he hadn't done anything wasn't exactly honest. He had broken the law on a daily basis back on Coruscaunt... but then she didn't need to know that, did she?

"Well if you didn't do anything, why are they chasing you?" Leia asked skeptically. She knew there had to be some explanation. Her father, Bail Organa once told her that there is always an explanation for everything.

Luke shrugged. "I don't know; Vader told them to." He said this without thinking. Of course he didn't know that the girl would be so alarmed.

"Vader!? _Vader_ told them to chase you!?"

"Hey, stop freaking out, alright? I didn't do anything to make Vader mad, or want to catch me, and that's the truth!" Luke insisted. And this time, he _was_ telling the truth. As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything to make Vader interested in him. In fact, this was all very confusing.

Somehow, Leia knew that this boy _was_ telling the truth. One way or another, he was innocent…. "Okay. So… what's your name?" Leia asked.

Luke smiled. Finally, a question he wouldn't have to lie to answer. "Luke. What's yours?"

"Leia. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah whatever," Luke said, distracted. He was looking out the window, trying to get some sense of direction. Luke kept looking out the window. "Uh… do you think you could drop me off at the landing pads back there?"

"Wait, I'd love for you to meet my father. And maybe he could help you. He loves to help people."

"That's great, but I _really_ need to get off this planet as soon as possible," Luke said.

"But we're already here," Leia said. And it was true. The driver had landed at the palace, and Leia was now walking out the door of the speeder. "Come on," she urged. "You won't regret this, I promise."

Slightly annoyed, Luke sighed and followed Leia out of the speeder and on into the double doors that led to the inside of the palace.

…

Vader was very angry when his stormtroopers came back and reported to him that they had lost sight of the boy. He told them to keep looking. He would _not_ let this boy leave the planet!

…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Leia led Luke through the palace which was her home, and on to her father's private office which was where he usually was when he wasn't at a meeting, or handling some other affair.

"Father?" Leia said when she quietly opened the door to his office. Yes, there he was, sitting at his desk, toiling over some paper work.

"Leia!" Bail said warmly when he saw his daughter in the doorway. "I wasn't aware that you were back. How did the planning for your party go?"

"Very well, but there's someone I want you to meet."

Bail stood up. "Oh?" he said smiling, raising an eyebrow. "Not a guy I hope." He said this in a joking manner. He was aware that there were some boys who would like to date Leia, but thus far, she hadn't shown an interest in boys, and he wasn't expecting her to.

But when Leia opened the door all the way to reveal Luke, Bail had to pause for a second and take it in.

"Father, this is Luke Skywalker," Leia said. "Luke, this is my father, Bail Organa."

Bail leaned against the desk as he took this in. Luke, Padme's son, here on Alderaan. Oh, if Leia wanted to date him, she'd be in for a big disappointment.

"Um, nice to meet you, young Luke," Bail said in a friendly manner. "What can I do for you?"

Luke shifted. "Nothing really. Leia just wanted me to meet you, now I have, now I'm gone."

Luke tried to walk back out the doorway, but Leia stopped him. "Father, I was hoping you could help Luke. You see, Vader's after him, and he doesn't know why."

"Is that so," Bail said in a thoughtful voice. No doubt, Vader had discovered his son, and now he was after him. And of course, Luke being clueless, wanted to get away as soon as possible. Well on the bright side, at least Leia didn't want to date him.

"I see. Well if you need help, I'll do all I can. Where are you headed?"

"I'm going back to Tatooine," Luke said.

Bail nodded. Tatooine. If Vader didn't find Luke here, Tatooine would be his next move. No, he couldn't let Luke go to Tatooine. Maybe somewhere else…

"I fear," Bail began. "That if you go to Tatooine, Vader may discover that that is your home planet, and he may track you down there."

Luke nodded. "This is true. What did _you_ have in mind?" Luke could care less about not being able to go back to Tatooine. This way, he wouldn't have to face his aunt and uncle after all, and not only that, his adventure wouldn't end so soon if he didn't go back. Yeah, he wouldn't mind going somewhere else.

"I was thinking… maybe Naboo."

"Naboo?" Luke asked. "I don't know anyone there." Of course, Luke hadn't known anyone on Coruscaunt either, but that was why he didn't feel like going to some place that he didn't know anyone. The outcome last time hadn't been so good.

"Actually, you have some relatives there."

Luke cocked his head to one side. "I do?"

"Yes. You see, I knew your mother, Luke. She was a senator in the Old Republic. Her sister and her sister's family lives on Naboo. I think they would be very happy to have you."

Luke shrugged. "Okay, cool."

Bail moved back toward his desk. "I'll just put in a call and let them know that you are coming."

…

That very same day, Luke was put aboard a ship headed for Naboo. It was one of Bail's ships. He ordered his crew to take Luke straight to Naboo, and see to it that he knew his way to the Naberrie home. If Bail had had his way, he would have let Luke stay the night and would have made proper preparations for his departure. But with the presence of Darth Vader on the planet, Bail understood the need of a speedy departure.

…

Vader felt Luke's presence grow more and more faint as he left the planet. He knew that he was leaving the planet. _How!?_ He was so _close_ to meeting him. So _close_ to knowing the truth… but no. Why did destiny play these games with him?

But it didn't matter. He would get Luke eventually. And when he did, he would know. He would know if he truly had a son. He would know… soon…

…

It was an uneventful trip to Naboo. There were no stops, no malfunctions of the ship, and everything was very boring after all the excitement Luke was used to. He was very glad when they finally landed on Naboo.

The captain gave him directions to the Naberrie home, and after studying them, Luke was sure he could find his way. He said goodbye to the captain and the crew and started off walking.

There was no reason to get a speeder cab to take him, and he didn't have any money anyway. And he didn't want to steal the money. He needed to stop stealing everything he needed. He was just so used to stealing whenever he needed money or food, or any sort of material object. But now that he was going to be staying with his mother's sister, his aunt, he might as well get out of the habit.

…

Sola Naberrie was so excited. The news that Padme had given birth to a child before she died had shocked her more than anything. She had a nephew! And she was about to meet him! She was more than happy to have Luke live with her and her husband. Sola's two girls were both away at collage on another planet, and she didn't have any children in the house. It was just her and her husband.

Of course Luke was a teenager, not a child. She had already picked out the high school that she was going to send him to. According to Bail Organa, Luke hadn't been to school in a while. She couldn't wait to meet her sister's son!

…

Luke followed the directions given him until finally he came to a nice looking house covered with vines. It looked very nice… much nicer than what Luke was used to living in. Well, this was going to be an _interesting_ experience.

He walked up the front stairs, knocked on the door, and waited for it to be answered. It was only a few seconds before the door was opened by a middle aged woman, who appeared to be in her thirties. A smile lit up her face as soon as she saw him.

"Oh Luke!" She rushed up and gave him a big hug.

Luke was a little surprised. No one ever greeted him like this. People usually took one look at him, disregarded him as a lower being, and didn't give him a second glance. Not like _this_. This woman was hugging him and was genuinely happy to meet him.

"_Well this is new,"_ Luke thought.

"Luke, I'm so glad to meet you!" the woman exclaimed. "My name is Sola. I'm your mother's sister, which makes me your aunt."

"Yeah, I sorta figured that out," Luke said, feeling a little awkward. "Nice to meet you."

"Come inside," Sola insisted. "I want to show you around the house. Oh, and your room! I think you'll like it."

"Um, okay," Luke said, following her inside.

"This is the dinning room," Sola said, gesturing to the room.

At first Luke thought it was a bit unusual to have a dinning room as the first room you enter, but after a moment, Luke decided it was a fairly nice placement of rooms.

"And this," Sola said, leading the way to the next room, "is the living room."

Sola showed Luke the house, room by room. Luke's favorite feature was actually the fact that there were two different staircases leading to the second floor. The first staircase was in the dinning room, and the second one was in the living room.

The upstairs was fairly large. There were three spare bedrooms, not including his, and there were a couple other rooms that Luke guessed (correctly) wasn't really used, and not even entered very often.

"This," Sola was saying, "Is your room."

Luke took a few steps into the room and looked around. There was a double bed in the center of the wall directly ahead of him, the closet was located on the wall to the right and on the wall to the left, there was a big window. On the wall opposite the bed, there was a chest of drawers and a desk.

"What do you think of it?" Sola asked excitedly.

Luke nodded. "It's cool." He inwardly thought it was awesome. This room was larger than the place he had used to live in Coruscaunt, and it was far nicer. The only reason he didn't show his excitement to his Aunt Sola was because he had learned while he'd been living on the streets of Coruscaunt to hide your inner thoughts and emotions.

"I'm glad you like it," Sola said happily. "I can't wait for my husband to get home. He's your uncle."

"Uncle… okay," Luke said. He wasn't too thrilled about meeting his uncle. This was because the only other uncle he had ever known was Owen Lars… enough said.

"Darren should be home soon," Sola said, referring to Luke's uncle. "In the meantime, I'll leave you to get acquainted with your room." Sola turned to leave, the paused at the doorway when she remembered something. "Oh, and there are some clothes in the closet that I believe to be your size."

"I like my own cloths," Luke said.

Sola looked at Luke's clothes. Worn out blue jeans, a weathered leather jacket, and a slightly torn shirt underneath.

"Well… we'll talk about your clothes later then."

…

Luke stayed in his room for a while, thinking over what was going on in his life. He had a new home which was much nicer than anything else he'd ever know, he had his own room, his Aunt Sola seemed very nice, and this city, Theed was a very nice place…

What did he do to deserve this?

Luke sat down on the bed. It was so _soft_. Trying to get a feel for it, Luke laid down, and rested his head on the pillow. It was the best thing that he'd ever felt…

…

"Hello, dear," Darren Naberrie said to his wife, Sola, when he arrived home later. "Has Luke arrived yet?"

"Yes," Sola said. "He got here half an hour ago."

"Where is he?" Darren asked. He was anxious to meet the nephew he never knew he had. He and Sola had only had two girls, but never a boy. He was glad that they were to be raising a boy this time.

"I left him in his room," Sola said. "It's funny; I haven't heard anything from him since then… maybe I should go up and check on him."

"I'll go with you," Darren said, following her up the stairs.

They walked through the upstairs hall and on to Luke's room. When they opened the door, they found him on his bed, sound asleep.

"Aww…" Sola said, walking quietly toward her sleeping nephew. "He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping."

Darren said nothing, but inwardly agreed that there was something calming about the boy when he was sleeping…. of course he hadn't seen him awake yet.

"Let's go," Sola said, pulling her husband out of the room. "I'll wake him up when it's time to eat dinner."

…

Twenty minutes later, Sola finished dinner and went upstairs to fetch Luke. Luke came downstairs, a little nervous about meeting his uncle. On the way to the dinning room, Sola kept talking about how much Luke would love his uncle. Luke could think of a lot of sarcastic comments, but he remembered that he was trying to turn his life around and stop being what he used to be back on Coruscaunt, so he said nothing.

"Luke," Sola was saying. "This is Darren, your uncle."

Luke inspected the man in front of him. He was tall, dark black hair and bluish eyes. To Luke, he looked a little intimidating, but then, he wasn't half as intimidating as some other people Luke had met before, and that made it a little better.

Luke then noticed that his uncle was looking him up and down, apparently sizing him up. Luke decided to say something. "Uh… nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," Darren said.

"Come on, you two," Sola said, gesturing to the table. "Let's eat."

Darren sat at the head of the table. Sola sat next to him, and Luke sat on the other side of Darren, two chairs away from him.

At first they were all silent during the meal, but Darren, in an attempt to learn a little more about his quiet nephew, began talking.

"So Luke, did Sola tell you about your school?"

Luke's head shot up when he heard this. "Say what?"

Darren looked back at his wife. "You didn't tell him?" Sola shook her head. She had quite forgotten about telling Luke about his school. "Well then, I'll tell him. We'll be sending you to Standard. It's a fairly nice school; I think you'll like it."

"It's a _school_," Luke said, angrily. "I _can't_ like it. It's _impossible_ to like something that has to do with _school_!"

"But Luke," Sola said, coming to the defense of the school. "You'll meet a lot of young people your age. You'll get a lot of friends."

"I don't need friends!" Luke declared. "I'm not going to school!" With that, Luke stood up and stormed out of the room.

* * *

**Author Note: Please review! I need to be inspired and reviews inspire me more than anything!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: Thanks, to the few of you who are reviewing. That makes me very happy. By the way, I'll try to update once every day. But I'm not making any promises.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Luke sat alone in his room, trying hard not to yell. School. He didn't want to go to _school_. It wasn't the school work that bothered him. He could handle that. He just didn't want to go to school. He had bad memories at his old school… with his old _"friends."_

He never had any _real_ friends. Except for Biggs of course, but when Biggs went away to boarding school, that was when Luke got really lonely. The others at his school made fun of him. He didn't even know why; they just _did_. He didn't want to go to school and have the whole thing happen again.

He _couldn't_. Luke didn't care what Aunt Sola or Uncle Darren said; he was _not_ going to school!

…

"What are we going to do if Luke doesn't want to go to school?" Sola asked Darren.

"Well I don't care what he says," Darren declared. "He _will_ be going to school tomorrow, even if I have to drag him there myself."

…

Luke stayed in his room for the rest of the night. When he finally fell asleep, it was past midnight.

The next morning, Luke was lying fast asleep in his bed when he heard someone calling his name… and someone was shaking him.

"Go away," Luke mumbled sleepily. He pulled the covers over his head, hoping his uncle would get the idea and leave.

He didn't.

"Luke, you're going to be late for school," Darren said urgently.

"That's the idea."

Darren grunted and pulled the blanket off the bed. Luke, who had slept only in his jeans, shivered when the blanket was pulled off of him. Darren went to the foot of the bed and began pulling Luke's legs, trying to get him off the bed.

Luke turned out to be surprisingly strong. He held onto the headboard and asked sleepily, "What are you doing?"

"Luke, get up!" Darren said.

"No; I don't wanna go to school," Luke stated.

"Either way, you _will_ be going to school today!" Darren declared. He left the room and came back with a bucket filled with water. Without a warning, Darren dumped the water all over Luke and his bed.

"Ahh!" Luke yelled. "What's _wrong_ with you!?" he asked incredulously. Luke was now very cold and looked around for his shirt or jacket because the water had been very cold.

"I'm getting you out of bed in time for school," Darren said calmly, as if pouring water on him was something normal that anyone did to their child when they weren't getting up to go to school.

"I've told you already; I'm not going," Luke said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Darren shook his head angrily. This boy was hopeless! Had he had _any_ discipline whatsoever? I didn't appear that way. It looked as if Luke thought he could do whatever he wanted to, and not obey the authority put over him.

Of course Darren didn't know that submitting to authority had become the last thing Luke would do. After Coruscaunt, he had gotten so used to playing by his own rules and disobeying the _real_ authorities that could (and did) put him in jail that it was second nature to disobey when he felt like it.

But Darren didn't know these things. All he knew was that Luke needed to learn to submit to authority, and so, because he loved him, Darren decided to put on a father role and show Luke who was boss… otherwise, all three of their lives would be quite miserable.

"Okay Luke, listen to me," Darren said, grabbing Luke's shoulders and forcing him to look him in the eye. "I don't know how you did things back at your old home, but you're living in my house now, and in my house, you have to follow the rules laid out. The first rule, you will be going to school, even if I have to get you dressed and drag you there myself! Is that clear?"

Luke was so unaccustomed to anyone treating him like this that he was frozen still for a second. (Of course, that may have just been the water all in his hair and body.) When Luke didn't say anything, Darren stood up and nodded.

"I want you dressed and ready to go in ten minutes."

With that, his uncle left Luke, who was staring laser bolts after him. Luke didn't know what to do. Should he obey his uncle and go to school? Or should he just lock the door and stay home? His uncle seemed intent. Maybe he should just try out school this _once_. If he didn't like it today, he wouldn't go back.

…

"Where's Luke?" Sola asked when her husband came down the stairs. He looked a little angry, and this worried Sola.

"He's getting ready."

"Really?" Sola said in surprise. Last night, Luke had seemed so intent on _not_ going to school, she was happy that he had decided to give it a try. "It sounded a little noisy up there; what happened?"

Darren sighed and sat down on one of the chairs at the dinning room table. "I had to teach him a little lesson." Sola looked up quizzically, and Darren felt complied to give her an explaination. "Sola, that boy is stubborn, rude, in a big need of a haircut, and I get the feeling he's also used to getting his own way. We have to change that if we want him to get anywhere in life."

"You didn't do anything drastic, did you?"

The sound of someone coming down the stairs drew attention away from the conversation. Sola looked at Luke and saw his hair was dripping wet, and noted that he wasn't wearing the jeans that he had come in. Instead, he wore some jeans that Sola had bought him before he arrived the day before. But he was still wearing the same shirt and leather jacket. Luke didn't make eye contact with aunt or uncle. He just stayed staring at the floor.

Sola exchanged a disapproving glance with her husband, because she knew he had something to do with Luke's wet hair, but said nothing aloud. "Would you like some breakfast, Luke?" she said instead.

Luke didn't look up. He shook his head. "No."

Sola got worried about Luke's depressing mood. Darren could tell, so he stood up and said, "Well I'm going to go ahead and take Luke to school…"

"I don't need anyone to take me!" Luke declared angrily.

"You don't even know the way. It's just for this once," Darren said. "Come on."

Luke made sure to wait a few seconds before he followed his uncle out of the door. He led Luke to a speeder sitting outside in a garage type thing. As soon as they both were in, Darren took off.

…

It was a ten minute drive to Standard. Luke stayed in the backseat and was quiet the whole time. Darren didn't try to strike up any conversation because he knew that would just make Luke irritated, and it wouldn't get him anywhere.

When he finally drove up to the front of the public high school he said, "Okay, here we are."

Luke looked out the window. It was a fairly large school; much larger than the one he had gone to back on Tatooine. _"Come on, Luke,"_ he said to himself. _"You've fought stormtroopers, lived on Coruscaunt all by yourself, and been through that maze palace thing back on Rong. This is __nothing__ compared to all that. Come on, get your act together!"_

This little pep talk he gave himself encouraged him enough to get out of the speeder. He stayed standing there until Darren left in the speeder. When he was gone, Luke turned around to face his new high school.

It was a large building, but Luke refused to let himself be intimidated. He forced his feet to move forward toward the school, gaining bravery with every step. Maybe he could do this after all.

…

At first there was nothing, then there was a strong surge of anger. There was no fear, just strong, potent anger. After a while it changed to nervousness, and now the fear was beginning to show. Then the emotions got so tangled up that Vader could no longer concentrate anymore.

Vader was in his ship, the _Devastator_, still hanging over the planet Alderaan. He had finally found the ship that the boy had arrived in Alderaan. It was an older model. One Vader hadn't seen for a while. He now knew that Luke had used another ship to leave the planet in.

Today, Vader was meditating, trying to get a hold of the boy's presence so that he could find out where he had gone. It had been hard for the past few days, because Luke hadn't been feeling anything very strongly. But today, yes the boy had to be going through some sort of dilemma because the emotions he was feeling were _very_ strong indeed.

But now, Luke seemed to have calmed down a bit. Hopefully this calmness wouldn't last for long.

…

The first few hours of school were fine. Class started at 9:00 and lunch was at 12:00. In class, there was no need to socialize unless you wanted to get in trouble with the teacher. But when lunch came around, Luke began to get slightly nervous again.

He got his food and sat down at an empty table, hoping no one would notice him.

That didn't work.

"Hey new kid!" some loud voice said. "You're sitting in my seat."

Luke turned around to see a taller looking guy followed by five or six others. They all looked pretty tough, but they weren't anything compared even to Lenson and his men. And they were definitely not as tough as a squad of stormtroopers.

Luke stood up and faced them. "I don't see your name printed on it."

"Oohh… tough guy, huh?" said the boy who seemed to be the leader. "I'm asking you politely now to get out of my way."

Luke didn't budge. "Make me."

The boy lunged forward and tried to punch Luke in the stomach. Luke swerved out of the way and elbowed the guy and caused him to fall on the table, his face landing in Luke's food.

All the people in the cafeteria were watching now, cheering on whoever seemed to be winning at the moment.

This carried on for only a few seconds when a woman came up and demanded, "Who started this!?"  
The guy, who Luke had been fighting pointed at Luke, and of course his buddies did the same. "What!?" Luke exclaimed. "I didn't start it! _He_ started it!"

"Come on," the lady said to Luke. The guy snickered at him when Luke walked passed and Luke felt a surge of anger fill his body. But he still followed the lady out of the room.

…

Detention. Luke was in detention. It was not the best feeling in the world. Plus he was still hungry. He hadn't been able to finish his food. Luke was alone in the detention room except for two other guys. As soon as the lady left, they walked up to Luke.

"Hey, I'm Warren," said the slightly taller one. He had shaggy black hair and a deep voice.

"And I'm Keith," said the other. He had slightly shorter hair than the other, and his hair was brown.

Luke nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

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**A.N: I've decided not to give you guys a cliffhanger this time since I seem to do that a lot. I hope this chapter is satisfactory. Please review! A writer needs to be inspired!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N: Alrighty then! In this chapter, I'm going to use something that I also used in my other story, **_**Skywalker City: The Series**_**. It's the solar surfer. As all of you know, I took that idea from **_**Treasure Planet**_**. I do not, I repeat NOT take credit for the idea. It belongs to the makers of **_**Treasure Planet**_**, thank you very much. **

* * *

**Chapter Four**

After a while, the confused emotions faded out, and Vader could feel nothing. If the boy had been trained he would have been able to feel _anything_ but it was not so.

After the nothingness, he began to get discouraged as this carried on for hours. But then finally there was a surge of energy Anger and even aggression began filling the empty space. Vader latched on to that and tried even harder than before to discover the boys' whereabouts.

The anger of his failing to do it before helped Vader more than last time and he finally got a sense of direction.

Luke was somewhere in the Nabooian system. In fact, he was probably on Naboo itself. About a weeks journey from here. Vader could handle the wait. At last he finally knew where Luke was. At last he would find out if he was truly his son…

…

Luke, Keith and Warren were kept in detention for the entire hour of lunch. When it was over, they were sent back to their classes. Luke discovered, (and he found that he was happy to discover this) that his two new friends were in almost all of his classes. During that hour in detention, Luke began to feel like they could be very good friends. And the other two had been feeling the same way.

When the three of them were walking to their last class together, Keith said, "Hey guys, do you wanna come over to my house after school today? We can go to the mall and pick up some new video games."

Both Warren and Luke agreed to this and walked into their last class.

…

After school, Luke and Warren walked to Keith's home to drop off their school stuff. Keith introduced Luke to his parents (they already knew Warren) then the boys left to go to the mall.

For a second, Luke thought that maybe he should call his aunt and uncle and tell them where he was, but he decided not to. After all, they had _forced_ him to go to school. This was just his little way of getting them back.

When the three of them got to the mall, they went straight to the video games store. But Luke noticed that right next to the store was another store that sold parts to make speeder, speeder _bikes_ and solar surfers.

Luke had never heard of a solar surfer before. Speeders and speeder bikes, yes... but not a solar surfer. He let his friends go into the video games store, telling them that he'd be in the other store next to it. After that, he stepped inside.

It was like being in heaven. There were posters of the newer speeder bikes, and all the parts he saw for sale were in top condition. A poster at the back of the store caught Luke's attention. It was a poster of a solar surfer.

Luke had never seen a solar surfer until now. That car back on Earth may have been something, but _this_ was really love at first sight. There was a long, slick metallic board underneath a large reddish wing that seemed to be lit up in a shade of gold. Luke could tell that it was going very fast.

…

For the rest of the night, all Luke could think about was that solar surfer. He didn't have _near_ enough money to buy it, unless he wanted to steal the money or steal the solar surfer itself. But he didn't want to become a fugitive here as well. He decided instead to build one.

At around 10:00, Luke and Warren said goodbye to Keith and went their separate ways to their houses. It was twenty minutes later that Luke opened the door to his aunt and uncle's home.

"Luke!" he heard Aunt Sola say. She rushed forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where have you _been!?_ We've been worried sick!"

Luke released himself from his aunt's relieved grasp and backed up a few steps, edging his way toward the stairs. "I was at a friend's house. Sorry I didn't call; I totally forgot," Luke lied. Since he was such a good liar, Darren and Sola bought it.

"Well next time, Luke," Darren said. "I don't want you to forget."

"Yeah, fine okay," Luke said. He was in a hurry to get to his room so he could start planning how to build his solar surfer.

He stayed up late that night, drawing diagrams and trying to remember how the solar surfer in the store had been build. He had studied all the solar surfers part by part so that he would know everything he needed to build one himself.

The next day after school, Luke scouted out a place to build his solar surfer. He couldn't build it anywhere near the house. He wasn't at the legal age to drive these things and his Uncle would never approve.

Luke found a little forest at the end of the city. He walked through it for a few minutes before he came to a hill. At the top of the hill was a very high, very dangerous cliff. Luke decided that the top of the hill was a perfect place to build and, when it was finished, try out his solar surfer.

The next few days were busy ones for Luke. After school every day, he would go to junk yards and other abandoned places where he would find still usable parts to make a solar surfer with. One time, he was even lucky enough to find a whole engine that still worked. It had probably been thrown out by some rich guy who wanted some newer kind of model. But this was just fine for Luke.

After he had collected all the parts he needed, he began building it at last. It was very easy for Luke to put it all together. He had always been great at building and repairing things. Of course this was a little more complicated than most things he had repaired back on Tatooine, but this was still easy enough for him.

Roughly a week after seeing the poster of the solar surfer in the store, Luke had finished his "masterpiece." It looked almost exactly like the one in the store. He couldn't wait to try it.

He stepped onto it and began the motor. Slowly… slowly…

He pressed the button the lift up the wing. It flared up and you could see the electric energy flow through it as if it to was excited to start up for the first time.

Finally, when Luke thought that there was enough energy radiating through the machine, he jumped off the cliff with the solar surfer.

At first, he didn't do anything. The feeling of the air pressing against his face and the rush and thrill it gave him almost caused Luke to crash at the bottom of the cliff. But he noticed the oncoming danger. He purposefully waited until the very last moment before he went full ahead with the engines and went speeding through the woods.

Not having enough room, Luke came out of the woods and was now flying over the trees. It was different from being inside a ship or a speeder or even a speeder bike. This felt almost as if he was really flying. It was the best feeling he'd ever had. For the first time since leaving Rong, Luke felt free.

Back when he ran away from Tatooine he'd felt free, back on Coruscaunt he had felt free. Even when Lenson had made him go to the palace to get his precious ruby, Luke had felt free. And now, it was that same feeling again, only ten times more than that. He felt like he was the only being in the galaxy. He didn't ever want this to end…

…

After hours and hours of nonstop flying, Luke finally decided that it was time for him to go back to the house. His aunt and uncle may just start asking where he was and what he had been doing. He would lie of course if they asked him that, but hopefully they wouldn't ask him anything.

…

As soon as his star destroyer came out of hyperspace, Vader ordered his shuttle and two squads of stormtroopers to be waiting for him when he got to the docking bay. If all went well, he would have Luke in a few hours.

* * *

**Author Note: Okay, this chapter is shorter than the others. My computer started messing up yesterday, and I'm actually working on another computer right now, and it's really hard and uncomfortable to write anything on it. But I am determined to update this every day, and so I wrote as much as I could.**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N: I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter. Come on, guys! Reviews inspire me more than anything!**

**Oh, and to ****Durge the Hidden Dragon,**** because of your review, I plan on updating **_**Rebel**_** very soon. I was just waiting for some reviews on that story before I continued and you have finally provided that motivation that I needed to finish it. Thanks! **

**You see guys? Reviews help. So anyway, here's chapter five.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Vader's thoughts consumed him on the ride down to the planet Naboo. If the boy turned out not to be his son, then he'd probably have to kill him, for he possessed such untrained potential, he couldn't risk the boy growing up and becoming a possible threat to him or the Empire. On the other hand, if he _did_ end up being his son…

Vader had to stop his swimming head before he finished the thought. There was just so much resting on this. If he was his son… the possibilities of this intoxicated him. A _son_. A child! A boy who's obedience and loyalty belonged to Vader by rights. It would be his son's duty to obey him without question and stand by his father's side. And for Vader, it would be his duty to protect him and raise him the way he should have been raised starting at birth.

Of course this was all _if_ he turned up being his son. If _not_… well, they all knew how that was going to end: in the boy's death, and possibly his guardian's death as well. Just to be sure he didn't leave behind any loose ends.

Every minute seemed to be an hour. Vader was getting… should he describe it as _excited?_ No, not "excited." A Sith was never _excited._ He was… eager. Eager to learn the truth. He had been _eager_ every day since he saw Luke on the hologram back on Coruscaunt. Yes, ever since then, his mind hadn't rested knowing that he might have a son out there.

Anger rose up inside of him when he realized that… _if_ this boy, Luke Skywalker was his son; someone must have hidden him… from his own _father!_ Who would do something like…!?

Oh yes, of course. Who else would do this but Obi-Wan Kenobi. His old Master. Of _course_ he would want to extend Vader's pain and hide the boy, his _child_, his offspring away from him in the hopes that Vader would never discover his existence.

A sly smile played across Vader's face when he thought of Obi-Wan's reaction when he would see Luke on Vader's side. On the Dark Side… where he belonged. Obi-Wan's failure would finally be complete and Vader would have revenge.

"Sir?"

Vader turned and saw the officer he had placed in charge of his shuttle. "Yes? What is it?"

The man took a deep breath. He was nervous. Would Vader _ever_ find someone –aside from the Emperor- who was _not_ nervous in his presence? Hmm, probably not.

"We have entered the atmosphere and will be landing momentarily."

"Very well," Vader said distractedly, trying to get his thoughts together so that he could think clearly. "When we land, I want your troops to be ready. I will not tolerate delays."

"Ye… yes, Milord," the man said. He was getting more nervous every second. Since there was no need to keep him here any longer, Vader dismissed him to check on the troops. He walked away hurriedly, apparently happy to have an excuse to leave the room. Vader could care less about petty officers who couldn't keep their calm near their commander. Who let these people into the Imperial Navy anyway?

Luke hid his Solar Surfer in an ally behind the house, underneath his bedroom window. In spite of his hurry, he had _definitely_ missed dinner by several hours, and naturally, his aunt and uncle were going to be angry.

"Where have you been, young man?" Uncle Darren said. Yep, he was angry.

"I lost track of the time," Luke said. And this was, in a way, true. He _had_ lost track of the time for a little bit when he had been flying. Luke had skillfully avoided answering the question. He could always lie, but he was running out of excuses.

"Yes, of course you lost track of the time, and why!?" Darren demanded of his nephew, getting angrier with every second that passed.

"I just wanted to walk around the city and I got lost. And I lost track of the time when I was finding my way home."

This was all lies, but Luke said this with such an honest face, that it convinced Darren and Sola.

Darren glanced at his wife, then looked back at Luke who was waiting to see if they bought the lie. They did. "Very well," Darren said finally. "Go straight to bed."

"Sure."

Luke ran up the stairs, wanting to get away before they changed their minds and decided that they didn't buy the lie after all. But he made it up the stairs and they said nothing to stop him. Home free once again, Luke finally allowed himself to grin.

"I'm so clever; why do I even bother going to school?"

When he got to his room, he found that he was very tired. Luke took off his shoes, his jacket and his shirt, and fell into his bed, exhausted. He always slept in his jeans.

Soon, he was asleep; his chest gently moving up and down, showing the signs of a peaceful sleep.

…

Vader followed the dimmed presence of Luke to a house he had visited once, very long ago. It was the house of Padme. The house she had lived in while still living on Naboo. It was where she had spent her childhood before becoming the queen.

Vader forced himself to move forward. He was leading the two squads of stormtroopers and he couldn't let himself looked the least bit fazed because of anything that would happen here tonight.

He turned to his troops. "When we get inside, arrest the occupants of this house. Do not harm them or your I will kill you myself."

He walked up the front stairs and strode into the house, not bothering to announce him presence to the occupants.

…

Darren and Sola were in the living room discussing Luke when they heard someone enter the house. Slightly alarmed, they quickly stood up and walked into the dinning room where they got the biggest surprise of their lives.

Sola gasped. It was Darth Vader! What was Darth Vader doing in their house!? He didn't seem to take any notice of them. The stormtroopers surrounded them, and some began searching the rest of the house.

Vader himself was just turning to go up the stairs.

"What do you want with us!?" Sola asked. She didn't really care. She yelled really loud, hoping Luke would hear them and runaway before he too was caught, and also, she wanted to distract Vader from going up the stairs and finding Luke.

"What I want is none of your concern," Vader said, not stopping or turning around.

…

Vader walked up the stairs, intent only on finding Luke. He followed the burning presence up to one of the bedrooms. There, lying on the bed was his son.

He was so sure by now that Luke was his son. At such close proximity he would have to be an idiot to not know. Luke looked exactly the way he had looked at that age. Vader walked closer to the bed and sat down on the side, studying his son carefully, hoping that he wouldn't wake him.

Luke had a surprisingly good amount of muscles in his body. His hair was unruly, uneven and too long. It was already coming down to his neck, strands of his golden hair falling slightly below his face. The child was in desperate need of a haircut.

Vader brushed a gloved hand through the wavy hair. Not even knowing what he was doing, his hand went down his son's neck and landed on his slowly moving chest.

Suddenly, Luke's eyes began to flutter open. He was waking up.

"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed, suddenly wide awake. He jumped up into a sitting position, breathing fast.

Vader knew he had to say something. "Luke…" Vader began.

"What's your problem!?" Luke interrupted.

This wasn't going to be easy…

* * *

**A.N: I decided to give you sorta a cliffhanger this time since you guys didn't review much last time. **

**Review PLEASE!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N: Sorry this update took a little longer than last time. I'll try not to get into the habit of making you guys wait for updates. **

**By the way, this is going to be a shorter chapter. Sorry.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Luke wouldn't lie; he was terrified. _Darth Vader_ was sitting on his bed and was right next to him! It was enough to make him completely freak out! A small whimper escaped from his lips as he backed into the headboard of his bed in an attempt to keep away from the Dark Lord who was edging closer every moment.

"Luke, I don't want to frighten you…"

"Too late," Luke said. "What are you _doing_ here!? I've never done anything wrong! … To you at least."

"It's not that you've done anything," Vader said, trying to think of a way to reveal the truth to Luke.

"Then why are you here?" This was the most confusing thing that had ever happened to him.

"Because…" Vader began, but he was interrupted by the voice of a stormtrooper calling him from downstairs.

"Sir! The man is trying to get away!"

Vader stood up for a second and that was enough for Luke. He jumped off the bed and ran to the window. He didn't slow down when he got to it. Instead, he ran right through it and fell two stories down. Somehow, he found that when he landed, he was not injured.

Luke spied his solar surfer that he had made, and lost no time in starting it up.

During this, Vader rushed to the window, but by the time he got there, Luke was driving off in his solar surfer.

Vader cursed silently and went down the stairs to order his stormtroopers to pursuit, but for some reason, he got the feeling that he had lost Luke again.

…

Luke quickly began forming a plan in his mind. He needed to get off the planet. Luke didn't have a ship, but he could steal one. Of course, he would probably need a blaster for that. And he would also need a new shirt and jacket. He didn't have time to grab his back at the house.

Luke flew his surfer to the mall and went to the first store he saw that sold blasters. He didn't have time to be picky. He grabbed one and walked out as fast as he could without being conspicuous. Unfortunately, the alarm went off when he tried to walk out with the stolen object.

He knew that he'd have to run for it. Luke ran through the mall with his blaster and quickly found a store that sold clothes. This was the first time he had stolen from store using a blaster. He had always been one for sneaking in and sneaking out. But he was too desperate and in a rush, and he couldn't waist time being sneaky. The alarms were going off everywhere now, and the mall security should be here soon.

When Luke ran out of the second store, he had a new shirt, which turned out to be red, and a new leather jacket. With his stolen merchandise, Luke ran to where he had first entered the mall. People, seeing the blaster in his hand, would scurry out of his way. But he couldn't help accidentally bumping into someone… They both went crashing to the floor.

"Ow!" the guy he had bumped into said. "Watch it…" Then he got a good look at him. "Luke!"

It was Keith, and next to him was Warren. "Hey guys," Luke said, standing up and running off again. He looked back and saw that they were shocked. "I'll explain this someday!" He declared running off again.

…

Luke rode as fast as he could to the space station. When he got there, he went to the first docking bay, with the intent of hijacking the ship there. Unfortunately, the ship was a huge piece of junk.

But Luke didn't have time to be picky. He ran toward the ship, carrying his solar surfer under his arm. Half way to the ship, the ramp came down, and a man, probably four years older than Luke came walking out.

He noticed Luke and said, "Hey, kid this is a private docking bay!"

Luke ran up to the ramp. "I know, but I've got to get off this planet!" he declared.

"Well I may be able to help you do that… for the right price."

Luke sighed. He didn't have time for this! But then he remembered his solar surfer. He could sell that once he got to another planet and pay this guy the money he got from selling it.

"I'll pay you, but not right now. There are people chasing me."

"Oh, I get it; you gotta leave _now_," the guy said.

This was taking forever! Luke considered for a second taking his blaster and just shooting the guy, but he noticed that the man also had a blaster and Luke got the feeling that he was fast with a blaster.

"Yeah, so can we go and talk about the price _after_ we've left the atmosphere!?" Luke asked urgently.

"Yeah, okay, sure. Come on."

Luke went up the ramp and the guy went to the cockpit. Luke followed him.

"Hey, Chewie!" the guy yelled in the direction of the cockpit. "Start up the Falcon, we gotta leave now!"

A roar was heard, and Luke saw where it had come from. It was a Wookie. This was going to be an interesting ride…

…

In five minutes, the Falcon was hovering over the planet, but the guy refused to go anywhere until they had decided on payment.

"I've got this solar surfer," Luke said. "When we get to wherever we're going, I can sell this and pay you the profits."

"Not enough," he said shortly. "You'll only get a thousand out of that. I want at least two thousand."

"Now that's just ridiculous!" Luke declared.

"Well, if that's what you think, then maybe I'll just go back down to Naboo and leave you to whatever you were running away from. Would you like that?"

Luke realized that he couldn't be rude to this guy, or he would risk going back to face Vader. Suddenly, he got an idea.

"Okay, take me to Alderaan. I know some people there who can supply that extra thousand."

The man paused, considering this. "If you're lying then…"

"I swear I'm not lying," Luke interrupted.

Silence, and then he spoke. "Okay, Chewie, set a course for Alderaan." The Wookie said something and then punched in the coordinates for Alderaan. When they were hyperspace, Luke finally relaxed.

"Well," the guy said. "Since we're gonna be on the same ship for a few days, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Han Solo."

* * *

**A.N: Oh shock, surprise, it's Han. I always have to have Han in the same story that Luke and Leia are in. Those there people just go together.**

**Please review! And once again, sorry for the short chapter.**


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